Archives

books

In part 1 of this series on finding and sharing what’s good in the world, I shared shows, songs, and a book I find positive and uplifting. I share more in this post.

Shows

Cinderella (2015). This live action retelling of the classic Disney animated film is beautifully written, filmed, and acted. I love this movie. One of my favorite lines is a repeated theme throughout the movie: “I have to tell you a secret that will see you through all the trials that life can offer. Have courage and be kind.” That I will be kind and that my children will be kind is a recurring petition I make in prayer.

Music

It’s Good to Be Alive by Regan Rindlisbacher. The delightful song is catchy and uplifting. It’s one of my family’s favorites. Her song is “about having a positive outlook on life, looking for the beauty in the world, and cherishing relationships with those we love.”

Handel’s Eternal Source Of Light Divine (officially known as Ode for the birthday of Queen Anne). There are a number of lovely recordings of the song; here is one I enjoy. The lyrics are a prayer for birthday peace.

Amazing Grace/My Chains are Gone performed by BYU’s Noteworthy. This is a cover of Chris Tomlin’s version of Amazing Grace (Noteworthy’s cover is the better version, in my opinion). I love the purity of the presentation and the power of the music.

Books

The books I’m posting fall in the self-help category. That’s one of my least favorite book categories, which is why these books are notable (I actually like them).

How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton M. Christensen. Clayton M. Christensen is the Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He’s currently one of the most influential thinkers in the business world. The book has application to just about anyone of any age but will not be particularly interesting to anyone younger than 16. The book is “full of inspiration and wisdom, and will help students, midcareer professionals, and parents alike forge their own paths to fulfillment.”

Bonds that Make Us Free: Healing our Relationships, Coming to Ourselves by C. Terry Warner. This is not an easy read and won’t be of much interest to many people younger than 18 (and probably isn’t of much interest to most people 18 and older). If you want the shorter, more digestible version read Leadership and Self-deception: Getting Out of the Box, released by the Abridger Institute. Bonds that Make Us Free is the better book but is quite technical. The book provides guidance on “how we betray ourselves by failing to act toward others as we know we should — and how we can interrupt the unproductive cycle and restore the sweetness in our relationships.”

I’m starting a new occasional feature on this site that I’m calling “Share Goodness”. This is taken from a social media campaign encouraged by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Another inspiration is one of the slogans of BYUtv: “See the good“. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we accept truth and goodness from any source: “Mormonism is truth, in other words the doctrine of the Latter-day Saints, is truth. … The first and fundamental principle of our holy religion is, that we believe that we have a right to embrace all, and every item of truth, without limitation or without being circumscribed or prohibited by the creeds or superstitious notions of men, or by the dominations of one another, when that truth is clearly demonstrated to our minds, and we have the highest degree of evidence of the same.” (Joseph Smith)

Rather than protesting what is bad, I believe in supporting what is good. After all, the Savior went about doing good (Acts 10:38). Instead of hearing, seeing, and saying no evil we can hear, see, and say good things. I hope to share some good things to see, hear, and read.

For the first part of this series I want to share a handful of uplifting songs, books, and visual media I’ve enjoyed recently. All are appropriate for families (at least my family), although some might be best for preteen and older. I won’t really provide reviews, I’ll just list things my family and/or I have enjoyed.

Shows

There are three I’d like to recommend with this first installment.

My family and I loved watching Random Acts on BYUtv. The show is described as: “Whimsical and heartwarming, BYUtv’s original hidden-camera show highlights the good in humanity through surprise service projects and pranks with a purpose.” If you haven’t watched it, watch it today.

The second recommendation is the show Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street. The show is targeted to 8-13 year olds but is enjoyable for the whole family. I like it as much as my kids (maybe more). This is produced by Amazon and is available to view with an Amazon Prime subscription. It is also available to purchase. We haven’t watched all 3 seasons yet but really enjoyed the first.

The third recommendation is Just Add Magic, also produced by Amazon. The show is geared towards 8-13 year olds but has something for the whole family. It is available for purchase or is included with an Amazon Prime subscription.

Music

I could list hundreds of songs but I’ll start with two.

“The Ground, Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria too” by Ola Gjeilo. Here’s the link on Spotify. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir performed it as part of Music and the Spoken Word on January 11, 2015.

I could list many good books I’ve enjoyed (although not all are appropriate for this site). I’ll start with The Only Pirate at the Party by Lindsey Stirling and her sister Brooke S. Passey. It’s an uplifting book full of positive messages. This one probably isn’t appropriate for (“interesting to” is probably a better term) kids younger than 10-12 but I strongly recommend the book for an interesting and unique perspective on the entertainment industry. Lindsey deals with some serious materials (her struggle with an eating disorder, for example), which is why I think it’s probably best for teenage and older individuals. I will, however, strongly encourage my children to read it (or listen to it, I have a copy of the audiobook) once they are teenagers.

Note: I did one post like this three years ago but it was focused just on sacred music. My hope is to continue posts like this where I share good (uplifting) books, songs, and visual media (movies/shows) I’ve enjoyed for years or just started enjoying. I won’t rate or rank anything I post. Most will be randomly selected and thus not posted in any particular order.